Life And Love After Fred
by RingosGarden
Summary: Post DH, a HG/GW fic. George Weasley is far from the happy prankster that he was before the defeat of Voldemort and death of his twin, and Hermione would like the old George back. Possible M if the story catches on for later chapters.
1. The Old George

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I can't bring myself to look away from him.

The atmosphere around the Weasley house is sad all around; this being the first Christmas since Voldemort's downfall. The first Christmas without Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Severus Snape and Fred Weasley.

Everyone has been putting in a good effort for some holiday cheer. It's just two days before Christmas, but George looks so incredibly lost.

"Hermione?"

Even Ginny's voice isn't enough to tear me away from watching George. How his eyes haven't moved from where they were currently staring into the parlor fire for the past half hour, completely ignoring the family members and friends who were in the house with him. George had always been the more quiet of the Weasley twins, but he had always been so happy. I haven't seen even a flicker of a smile on his face in the four hours since I've arrived here, and all the other times that I've seen him in the past seven months.

"He hardly ever talks anymore," Ginny says, joining me at the kitchen table and noticing where I was looking.

I turn to her and she continues. "He's still running the joke shop, but he's seemed to have lost all ambition to do so. I think he uses it to keep busy; to keep his mind off things."

"He still live above the shop?"

Ginny nods. "Charlie says he hasn't stepped foot in Fred's room at all. He had mum go in there to get Fred clothes for the funeral service."

I don't reply at all and continue to look in George's direction.

"So you and Ron decided to call it quits?"

"Yeah," I reply, once more tearing my eyes away from George.

"Finally noticed that you two are nothing alike?" She asks me with a large grin.

"Something like that," I reply, once more looking back into the parlor.

"Why don't you go talk to him?" Ginny asks me with a nudge as Mrs. Weasley walks over to George, trying to get him to have some dessert.

After he refuses and Mrs. Weasley leaves him, I nod at Ginny. "I think I'll go for a walk."

Ginny only smiles at me as I stand and walk over to the cloak rack, grabbing both mine and George's from the hooks, and walk into the parlor where George is sitting off in the corner.

I walk in front of him, blocking his view of the fire and I wait for him to look up at me. When he does, it's with a tired face, void of emotion.

"C'mon," I say, gesturing with a tilt of my head for him to stand. When he doesn't react, I hold out his cloak to him, which he takes and gives me a small nod as he stands, wrapping himself in the cloak. I put my own on and begin towards the door.

When George doesn't follow me, Ginny gives me a sad smile and I turn back to George, clasping my hand in his and leading him outside.

He closes the door behind us, and to my surprise, doesn't let go of my hand and instead, laces his fingers in mine.

We walk along the path from the door and follow it until it meets the main dirt road that leads into the small muggle village. Walking along the road in silence, I breathe in deep the chill winter air.

"I thought you might like to get out of there for a bit," I finally say, still looking at the road before us.

"Thanks," he says softly.

I look up at him quickly in surprise. "So you're not completely mute."

"No," he says, looking down at me with a small smile. His face might be showing a small sign of happiness, but his eyes show his true sadness. We hold each other's gaze for a few moments before he turns away from me, looking towards the village. "So where are we going?" He asks me.

"If I remember correctly, there's a small café in the village," I state. "I thought we could sit for some tea if you have no objection. I've got plenty of Muggle money on me."

"All right," George replies.

We continue into the village, and upon getting to the small café, George lets go of my hand and holds the door open for me. We sit down in a booth in the far corner of the room and are quickly served tea and left alone.

George takes a sip from his cup and looks up at me, studying my face. "So," he states, looking at me intently, his hands clasped before him on the table. "Is this out of pity or friendship?"

"Friendship," I quickly reply, looking at him with a frown. I sigh and place my hands on top his, making his eyes leave mine to look down at our hands. "Pity does no one well, and you certainly don't need it," I respond. "But I cannot deny that I'm concerned for you."

He nods at me. "It's not as if I'm not trying," he states, still watching our hands. "But whenever I run into anyone I know, family or otherwise, I'm smothered by their pity. It's not easy to attempt to move forward when that's the case."

"Certainly understandable," I reply, "but you need to allow yourself to live, George. Those that care for you are not trying to smother you, only voice their concern."

"I know," George replies. "I know. I just…I don't know _how_ to live without him."

When George looks up at me, there are tears in his eyes.

"Do you want to go somewhere more private?" I ask him softly.

He nods at me, so I remove my hands from his and reach into my cloak pocket, pulling out my coin purse hand laying some quid down upon the table. We quickly make our way our of the café and George wipes his eyes on his cloak sleeves. I wait for him to compose himself before firmly grasping his arm.

"Do you trust me?" I ask his softly.

"Completely," he responds, catching me by surprise.

I smile at him before apparating the both of us to the street before my apartment. I have placed anti-apparation walls inside my flat for protection.

"Where are we?" George asks, looking down the road as we cross.

"Kent," I reply. "This is my flat," I state, opening a door at the bottom of a staircase. "I've only been here a couple of months so excuse the clutter." At the top of the stairs, I unlock the door with a Muggle key and then wave my wand before the door before opening it and flipping a light switch inside, gesturing George inside.

"Leave it to you to live in a Muggle environment," George says to me with a slight smile, examining the television and DVD player in the living room as I wave my wand to tidy the place up a bit. I hadn't been expecting company at all so books and old news papers are strewn about the room.

I lean against the wall and watch as George pulls a DVD off the bookshelf beside the television set in curiosity and I cannot help the laugh that escape as he tries to open the case and the disk flies out, making him jump.

He turns to me in mock anger, "You think that's funny do you?" He asks me in the first form of joking I've heard from him since Fred's death.

"Yeah," I reply with a smirk, happy to have gotten him to have some enjoyment as he's gone so long without any.

"What are these anyway?" He asks, gesturing to the two bookshelves that I have entirely filled with DVDs.

"Muggle movies," I reply, walking over to him, picking up the dropped disk and helping him put it back into its case and on the shelf. "Have you ever seen any?"

He shakes his head at me, continuing to read the titles. "Any worth seeing?"

"Would I have any if they weren't?"

He turns to me with a grin. "You never know, knowing you."

"Very funny," I reply, putting the movie back where it belonged on the shelf. "You care to watch one, and see how wrong you are about my taste?"

"I think I can owe you that much."

"Good," I reply. "Go sit on the couch and I'll pick something out that you might like."

George looks at the couch and then back at me. "Where?" He asks, taking his cloak off and throwing it over the back of a chair I have in the corner of the room.

Looking at the couch, I see that it's piled high with clothes and boxes of photographs. "Are you a wizard or not?" I ask him in false annoyance, waving my wand and sending the items off the couch and in a pile against the wall, taking my cloak off as well and draping it over George's.

"So what are you choosing?" He asks me as he sits down upon the couch.

"What's it matter what I say?" I ask him, looking through the movie titles that I had alphabetized on the shelf. "It's not as if you've seen any of them."

"Very true," he replies and when I glance back at him, I notice that he's watching me. I smile at him and pull 'Tommy Boy' off the second bookshelf.

"I think you'll like this one," I state, turning the television on and bending down to put the movie in the player. "It's called Tommy Boy, it's pretty funny."

"What's it about?" He asks as I hit play and go into the kitchen for two Butterbeers. I place them on the coffee table and sit down beside him, leaning back into the couch before turning the lights off with a wave of my wand.

"Just watch it," I reply and he actually laughs at me. When I turn to him in surprise he shakes his head at me and holds his left arm out, gesturing me towards him.

I raise an eyebrow at him and he sighs, leaning towards me and pulling me close to him, leaving his arm around my shoulders, making me use his chest as a pillow. I can feel my breathing quicken and the rising and falling of his chest against me makes it quite difficult for me to concentrate on the movie I put on until he begins laughing and I relax in his embrace. His laughter, after not hearing it for so long, is quite contagious. 

At the end of the movie, George has a large smile on his face and when I sit back up he's watching me.

"Thank you," he says simply, "I really needed that."

I smile at him in return. "Believe me, it was no problem. Looking at the clock, my eyes widen. "It's nearly nine, your mother is probably wondering where we are."

He frowns at me. "Could we watch another…I don't want to go back there yet."

"Sure," I say, nodding my head at him. "Do you want to pick one out?"

"Yeah," he says with a smile, standing from the couch. "I think I'll do just that."

As he reads the titles on the shelf, I watch his movements closely. The change in his demeanor in only a few hours is remarkable. With his cloak off, and standing, I can now take in his appearance. He's obviously lost a large bit of weight from the way that his clothes fit on his body, and now that his other side is facing me, where Snape hit his ear with a spell is now visible. He turns around and takes in my frowning face.

"What?" He asks, a frown on his own face.

"I'm cooking for you," I state, standing up. "And you're eating."

He opens his mouth as if to talk and then closes it, shrugging. "I am a bit hungry."

At my laughter, he glares at me and I quickly walk into the kitchen, looking through the fridge for something to make. I pull out a bowl of pizza dough, which I had been leaving to rise and put it on the counter as George walks in.

"What do you like on your pizza?" I ask him, watching as he leans against the pantry door.

"I'm not picky," he replies, making me roll my eyes at him.

"I've got hamburger, sausage and pepperoni for meat and some vegetables if you want them."

"Meat's fine," he states and I hand him a package of hamburger. "What am I doing with _this?_"

"Cooking it," I reply with a smile, getting the pepperoni, sausage, sauce and cheese out of the fridge, putting them on the counter next to the pizza dough.

"Cooking?" George asks me, aghast at the thought of it.

"What do you order out each night?"

"Yeah," he replies, making me smile. "I do."

I shake my head at him and push him away from the closet, taking a frying pan out of it along with a spatula. "Here," I say, handing him both. "Put the hamburger in the pan, turn the stove on and stir it around until brown."

"You're kidding me, right?"

"No," I reply, getting another frying pan to fry up some of the sausage. He mutters something under his breath, but actually makes his way to the stove. When he stares at it for several moments, I help him by turning the knob to start the fire and he yet again sends a glare at me.

I ignore him and set up the other pan with sausage and move back to the dough, spreading it out inside of a deep-dish pan as I keep my eye on George, making sure that he doesn't set himself on fire. As he backs away from the stove, allowing the hamburger to simmer in the pan, I give him a smile.

"Now was that so difficult?"

He doesn't respond and watches as I spread pizza sauce over the dough and sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the sauce.

"So why aren't you living with your parents?" 

I look to him quickly and stir both the sausage and hamburger before answering him. "I had to rid them of their memory of me when I went with Harry and Ron to find the Horocruxes and I sent them to live in Australia. I gave them their memories back when Harry killed Voldemort but our relationship has been rocky at best. I just couldn't stay there anymore."

"I'm sorry," he says awkwardly. "I didn't know."

"Hey," I state, turning away from the food to look at him. "I don't enjoy pity anymore than you do."

He shakes his head at and walks towards me, pulling me into a hug. "You know, you're not bad, Granger."

"Thanks Weasley," I state when he pulls away. "I guess I can say the same."

"You guess?" He asks as I shut the stove off, spooning each pan's contents into the pizza pan and adding the pepperoni before putting the pan in the oven and setting the timer.

"You heard me," I reply with a grin, walking back into my living room and sitting down on the couch. "Did you pick a movie out?" I ask as he follows me into the room.

He nods at me and hands me 'Dracula' from the coffee table.

"Odd choice," I state, walking over to the TV and putting the movie in. 

He shrugs at me as I walk back to the couch and before I can sit, he once more stretches his arm out, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Why do you insist on that?" I ask him as I sit down, his arm around my waist this time.

"Because you don't seem to mind."

For some reason, his comment makes me blush, so I stare at the television ignoring that I'm pretty sure that George is laughing at me.

About fifteen minutes into the movie, the oven timer goes off so I stand up to take the pizza out of the oven. As I turn around to get plates out of the cabinet I jump, surprised to see George standing in the doorway.

"You scared me," I state, hitting him with the back of my hand on his chest before getting two plates off a shelf. "Want to get something to drink out of the fridge?"

He opens the fridge and quickly looks back at me as I use a pizza cutter to slice the pizza. "What?" I ask him, not understanding the look he was giving me.

"What the bloody hell is this stuff?" He asks, pulling out a cream soda.

"Muggle soda," I reply, placing three slices of pizza on George's plate and two on my own. "It's good, grab two."

He studies the can as if he thinks I'm insane, but takes two out of the fridge and follows me back to the couch where I hand him his plate and a napkin.

Ignoring how hot the pizza is, he immediately begins to scoff it down. I watch him in amusement and he doesn't realize that I am until he finishes his first piece.

"What?" he asks as I begin to laugh hysterically at the mess he's made of his face. "What?" he asks again, with a smile this time, when I don't answer but continue to laugh at him.

He takes a napkin off the table and wipes his face, beginning to laugh with me, which immediately makes me stop.

"It's nice to hear you laugh again," I say softly.

"It feels nice _to_ laugh again," he replies, opening his soda and taking a large sip.

"How do you like it?"

"Not bad," he replies, leaning back into the couch and beginning his second piece of pizza as I start my first.

When the movie ends, I yawn from George's shoulder and sit up, using my wand to send the dishes into the kitchen where I'll take care of them later and to turn the lights on.

"You ready to go back?" I ask him, using the remote to turn the TV off.

"Yeah," George says, nodding his head. "I am," he adds, looking to me with a smile. He stands and holds out his hands to help me up from the couch. He stands in front of me for a moment with my hands in his before he walks over to the chair where our cloaks are and hands me mine. When we both have our cloaks on, he takes my elbow in his and I can't help rolling my eyes at his false chivalry as he escorts me out of my flat, allowing me to lock the door behind us, and across the street.

"Do you trust me?" He asks when were to the spot where I had apparated us to. 

"Completely," I say with a grin and he grabs my hands, apparating us back to the Weasley garden.

I follow George as he opens the door and we both quietly creep inside, being careful not to make noise as it's now past midnight and the house is asleep. When we make it upstairs to the hallway, George stops, looking at his old room with a frown.

"Why don't you take my bed in Ginny's room," I say softly to him, noticing his hesitation.

He bites his bottom lip and shakes his head at me. "No…I'll just sleep on the couch."

"George," I state, turning him around to face me. "From the circles under your eyes it's obvious that you need a good night's sleep. The couch isn't going to get you that…it's fine."

With a small smile, he bends down and kisses my cheek. "Thank you," he says and walks into Ginny's room before I can respond. 

I walk into George's room with a sigh as I glance at what used to be Fred's bed. I change into pajamas and am instantly asleep as my head hits George's pillow.

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**This is the only chapter that I have so far,**

**So if you liked it please tell me and I'll write more.**

**I haven't attempted a post DH before.**


	2. Confronting Ron

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**Thanks to the following reviewers; **_WeasleyWeakness, babiijorx0, MoreThenMyself, HPFanFictionFan, medfanofreading, touchtthemoon985, TheDutchCourage, sweetkiss53 and Liquid Diamond_

**So on to chapter 2! **

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I groan as Mrs. Weasley knocks on the door in the morning signaling breakfast, and feeling incredibly tired and lazy, I use my wand to get dressed and fix my hair, making my way downstairs and sitting next to Ginny at the table; Harry at her other side. George, Charlie and Ron soon join us at the table, sitting across from me and Ginny. When Mr. Weasley finally sits, Mrs. Weasley starts handing out plates. Percy, Bill and Fleur will be joining us later on in the day for a small Christmas Eve party.

We all eat in silence, saying goodbye to Mr. Weasly as he leaves for work and Mrs. Weasley follows him from the table, making some last minute arrangements for tonight.

I catch eyes with George from across the table and give him a small smile. He continues to hold my gaze but doesn't return the gesture as Ginny speaks.

"You two were certainly out late," she states, looking at me.

Ron, who had only shown up this morning from he and Harry's flat looks to me in confusion.

I shrug at Ginny in response, which was not the answer she was obviously expecting.

"Where were you two?" She asks, looking back and forth between George and I, gaining Charlie's attention.

From across the table, George raises an eyebrow at me making me grin. "My place," I reply simply, watching as George's mouth forms a smile, which does not go un-noticed by anyone at the table.

"Do I want to know what you were up to?" Charlie asks with a grin and a quick glance to Ron.

George shrugs. "We were just watching movies."

Ron doesn't seem convinced, but seems more surprised at George's input into the conversation than anything.

"Hermione," George says, placing his fork down on his plate and folding his hands on the table before him. "I need to go to the shop at about four today and I was wondering if you would like to join me."

Ron, Charlie, Harry and Ginny all turn to me, Harry and Ginny in amusement, and Ron in what looks like anger.

I look from Ron back to George, deciding that Ron's thoughts on me spending time with George really don't matter. So what if I decide to be better friends with his brother? George can certainly use some friendship in his life.

"I'd love to," I reply and George smiles at me in return.

When we all finish eating, I collect the dishes and bring them to the sink, deciding to help Mrs. Weasley by washing them.

"Need help?"

I turn to face George who is watching me with a grin.

"You're actually willing to do more Muggle work?" I ask as he walks over to me, reaching past me to turn the sink on.

"Gives me something to do for now," he replies, beginning to wash one of the used plates. "And gets me away from Ron and Gin."

"They think something's going on between us," I reply, drying the dish he had just washed.

"Maybe we should play it up then," he says with a wink, flicking water at me.

Before I can respond he flicks some more at me, and deciding to beat him at his own game, I take the sink nozzle and squirt him right in the face.

He stands there, looking at me in surprise as I drop the nozzle, waiting for a reaction from his sopping wet face. As a grin forms on his face, I slowly back away from him. "I suggest running," he says with a smirk.

Needing no more warning than that, I turn out of the kitchen and quickly make my way past where Charlie, Ron, Harry and Ginny were sitting in the living room, George following close behind me. I run up the stairs past Mrs. Weasley and find myself facing a dead end.

I turn around and see George walking towards me.

"I'm sorry?" I say, backing up until my back hits the wall, George still walking towards me.

When he gets to me, he places a hand on either side of my shoulders against the wall.

"What are you going to do?" I ask him quietly as he leans towards me.

"Kiss you," he responds.

I look at him in confusion and he smiles at me, bending down to press his lips against mine.

When he pulls away from me, he raises an eyebrow. "You're not going to smack me are you?" I can only shake my head at him and he smiles. "Does that mean you'd let me kiss you again?"

I study his face carefully, just as I had been doing last night when he was sitting in front of the fire. I can hardly believe that this is the same person that I had brought to my flat last night. This is more like the old George; the George who used to light up a room. The George who used to make me laugh, although I'd never admit it at the time.

As I smirk at him, he gives me a questioning look. Slowly, I wrap my arms around his neck. "Only if you let _me_ kiss _you_."

"I never knew you to be so forward," he states, moving his hands from the wall to my waist.

"And I've never known you to be into book worms."

He shakes his head and rests his forehead against mine. "You are by far not the bookworm that you once were."

In a hardly conscious motion, I move my hand to George's hair and pull his head down so my lips meet his.

There's a loud clutter at the other end of the hall making the two of us jump and pull away from each other quickly, looking towards the noise where Ron was standing, a chess set strewn on the floor before him.

He stares at the two of us in amazement and then changes his expression into a glare, using his wand to clean up the mess he had made and walks into his room, slamming his door behind him.

I cringe as George breathes in deeply.

"Hermione, I-"

"No," I state, cutting him off. "I have absolutely no clue what your intentions are with me, but right now, that really doesn't matter. The fact is, he has no right to be mad at me."

He doesn't respond and I shake my head. "I'm going to go talk to him."

George nods at me and I walk over to Ron's door, pausing before opening it without knocking. I step inside, and close the door behind me where his face meets mine in a glare.

"Get out of my room."

"No," I reply. "You have no right to act like this."

"No right?" He exclaims, standing from where he had been sitting on his bed. "You were just kissing my brother!"

"So?"

I've rendered him speechless and he stands still, gaping at me.

"Ronald," I state, looking at him fiercely. "You and I are not dating. We tried it and we both agreed that it didn't work. You are being completely immature."

"I'm immature?" He asks me rhetorically. "I'm not the one taking advantage of George's emotions after Fred's death!"

The force of my open palm on his cheek sends out a loud smack and he staggers backwards.

"How dare you!" I exclaim, and it makes me feel a bit better that I detect fear in his eyes. He's probably remembering that time I sent birds after him. "I would _never_ take advantage of someone. Especially not George!"

"So what?" He asks in anger. "You have feelings for him?"

"I always have, you prat!"

We both stand there in shock over what I had just admitted. I've never thought about it before, but it's true. I've always had feelings for George, but always suppressed them to crush level because he was Ron's brother and so different from me that he'd never return them. Only; he's not so different from me.

Ron having sat back down on his bed, finally having nothing left to say to me, I turn around and swing the door open. I'm not entirely surprised to see Harry, Ginny, Charlie and George in the hallway.

Ignoring them, I walk into Ginny's room and shut the door behind me, sitting on the cot that Mrs. Weasley had set up for me not knowing that George had used it last night.

"Bollocks," I mutter, staring out the window.

Slowly, the door opens and I turn towards the creaking hinges to where George is peeking around the corner. He looks at me in contemplation for a moment before smiling. "Ready to go to the shop, then?"

Surprised as I am by his lack of reaction to what he had just overheard, I am just as grateful and I stand up. "Incredibly," I reply and he laughs.

George stops me before I reach the door, stepping inside and closing it behind him. He kisses my forehead and then pulls me into a tight hug. "Thank you," he says softly.

"For what?" I ask him.

He pulls away a slight bit so he can look me in the eyes. "Caring."

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**A review would mean the world to me!**

**Also;**

**I've never had a Beta,**

**And I'm not sure how it really works,**

**But if someone's interested for this story or 'Like Father Like Daughter'**

**Please let me know.**


	3. Chutes and Ladders

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**I'm certainly glad that you guys seem to like this story. I must admit, I'm having quite some fun writing it.**

**Special thanks to my reviewers;** _TheDutchCourage, slytherinqueen23, carolina4800, sweetkiss53, medfanofreading, HPFanFictionFan, remuslives, Albi1, Readerforlife, babiijorx0 and WeasleyWeakness!_

**Now to chapter three.**

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"Wow," I say, looking at the stacks of products yet to be sold.

George shrugs at me from the back room that he uses for storage in the shop. There were shelves upon shelves of boxes yet to be released to the public. "I haven't had much to do since Fred-"

"Anything worthwhile?" I ask him quickly, trying to avoid an awkward silence at his mention of Fred.

"Everything," he says with a grateful smile, walking over to a shelf to his left. "I think you'll like these," he states, gesturing me over.

I study the colorful boxes on the shelf in surprise. "Muggle games?"

"Only in theory," he says with a grin, taking a "Chutes and Ladders" game off the shelf and placing it on the ground to take the lid off and pull the board out.

"Where are the pieces?" I ask.

He smirks and kneels down, waving me to do the same. "Tap on the board three times with your wand."

I look at him skeptically and he rolls his eyes at me.

"Do you trust me?" He asks.

Breathing in deeply, I take my wand out of my pocket and tentatively tap it three times against the board. With a rush, a feeling quite like apparition, I find myself in the game board, the chutes and ladders suddenly very real and towering above me.

Within seconds, George is standing by me. "So what do you think?"

I look around the board in amazement. "You did this all yourself?" I ask turning to him quickly.

He shakes his head at me. "The Muggle games were Fred's idea," he states, looking around at the colorful ladder near us. "I thought I'd finish them."

"It's brilliant," I tell him, earnestly.

"You've only seen the half of it," he states, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the start of the game where two softball-sized dice lay. "Go ahead."

At his obvious excitement, and current ability to talk about Fred, I do just as he tells me without even a slight hesitation. Rolling the dice in front of me, they come to a stop at a four and a three. I look at George and he nods enthusiastically, so I take seven steps forward and the dice magically move to in front of George's feet as a sort of hologram appears before me catching me off guard and causing me to jump in surprise.

"Very nice work, Ms. Granger," the woman sates. She looks remarkably like a younger version of McGonagall and she's holding a paper with a large 'O' printed on it. "You may climb ahead on the ladder."

The ladder before be begins to glow and when I step on the bottom rung it moves me to the next side like a Muggle escalator.

"So what do you think?" George calls to me from where he's still standing at the starting spot.

"It's amazing! How do we get out?" I ask him in return.

He takes his wand out of his pocket and taps the bored once and he instantly disappears. Taking my wand out of my pocket, I do the same, and find myself back in the storage room. At the sudden contact of my feet against the hard floor, I stumble backwards, only to have George support me from behind.

"Thanks," I say as he turns me around to face him. He studies me for a few moments and opens his mouth as if to say something but then closes it. "What?" I ask him.

"Ron's room," he states and I can feel my heart beat faster along with my cheeks redden. "Did you mean what you said?"

"Yeah," I reply sheepishly.

He nods at me and looks down towards our feet.

"George?" I ask.

When he looks back up at me, he's biting his bottom lip, thinking carefully. "I like you, Hermione," he finally says. "A lot. Ever since D.A. I used to watch you and admire your skill and the patience you had with Neville and the others. And how bloody _scary_ you could be when upset."

I give a small laugh at that comment, but I can hardly believe what he's telling me right now.

"And then how you were there for Harry after Sirius died. The first time you came into the shop I was so nervous about what you would think of it, I could hardly talk to you. You and Ginny were looking at the products and Fred had to talk to you because I just couldn't."

I smile again, not only because I find his statement to be incredibly adorable, (who would have know George Weasley could be bashful?) but also because he yet again was able to mention Fred.

"I don't want to hurt you though," he states, taking my hands in his. "I'm not myself right now, and with Fred gone, I'm not sure that I will ever be that person again."

"I want to help you," I reply. "If you want me to, that is. I just hate seeing you so miserable."

"These past two days," George starts. "You've made me feel…alive…again. When Fred died, I didn't think I could ever be happy again, not even for a moment. I shut people out. I drowned in my work. I haven't been eating. I haven't been sleeping….Last night- well last night I went to bed with a smile on my face."

"Fred and I talked," George says quietly, his expression changing once more to sadness. "Before the battle. We talked about if something was to happen to one of us. He told me, whatever I did, to not cry over him, to be happy…to live on. I told him the same thing. If it were me looking down on him as he could very well be on me right now, it'd tear me apart…I know he wouldn't want me like this. I had promised him that I wouldn't be this way. That I'd be there for mum…"

I pull George into my arms as he begins to cry and run my hands through his long ginger hair. "He'd understand, George," I whisper to him and he nods into my shoulder.

After a few minutes, when he's calmed himself down enough to be able to talk to me, he pulls away and looks at me in determination.

"I want to start working on that promise now."

I smile at him and give him a slow kiss on his cheek. "Then I think we have a Christmas Eve party to be getting to," I reply.

"I think you're right," he says with a slight forced smile. Taking his wand back out of his pocket he stores the game back inside its box and on the shelf and summons the store's sales book to his hands; what he had originally come here for. "You ready?" He asks me, holding out his hand.

"Yup," I reply and he leads me out of the shop and into the alley where he apparates us both back to the Weasley's house.

"Well here goes," George states, pushing the door open and walking into the kitchen. We're instantly met with the smell of pie and soft playing of Christmas music.

"I'm going to go talk to Ginny," I state, looking up at George. "If you need me at all just come get me."

"I might call you on that," he replies as I walk into the living room where Ginny and Harry were currently talking.

Ginny looks at me with a grin as I watch George make his way over to Bill and Charlie. They look surprised for a moment but then include him in their conversation like nothing was out of the ordinary.

"So what'd you do?"

"We actually played Chutes and Ladders," I reply with a smile. "He's got a line of magically supported Muggle games that he's developing for release."

"Sounds fun," Harry replies as Ron comes down the stairs.

"I'm going to get a drink," I state, noticing the awkward look that Harry was now giving me, looking towards Ron.

Making my way into the kitchen, I pour myself a butter beer and sit down at the table where I can watch everyone. Molly and a very pregnant Fleur are off in a corner excitedly talking about her upcoming child, Arthur and Percy are standing in the middle of the parlor on about work. It's nice to see Percy embrace his family once more. Harry, Ginny and Ron seem to be in a tense discussion, but my eyes linger on the opposite side of the room where Charlie, Bill and George are sitting in a circle, each one laughing boisterously.

I jump at the hand on my shoulder and look up to see Molly, who was only moments ago with Fleur. "Can we talk?"

"Of course," I reply and she sits down beside me, my gaze returning back to George with a smile on my face.

"I wasn't sure I'd ever see him smile again," she says to me, my attention turning back to her and her moist eyes. "When I lost Fred, I lost him too…I don't know what you've done," she states looking down at me in appreciation. "But it was certainly a remarkable and unbelievable Christmas gift. I may not be able to get Fred back…But I've got some of George back, and that gives me hope."

She gives me a hug and then pulls away, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Thank you, Hermione," she says before getting up from the table and walking over to George. The conversation in the room stops as she stares at George for a few moments before breaking down in tears and throwing herself around him.

"Aww, Mum," he says loudly in a whine that makes Bill and Charlie grin. "Come on," he states with a smile. "You're getting my shirt all wet."

"I've missed you," she says in a muffled voice.

"I know," George replies softly, bending down to kiss her head. "And I'm going to fix that."

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	4. Sweet Dreams

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**Sorry for the long break.**

**I kind of forgot about this story. **

**Serves me right for having about 5 ongoing fics.**

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"Come in," I reply to the soft knock on the door. It was now slightly past two in the morning and the party had finally ended. Professor McGonagall had showed up for a short while, along with Kingsley and Ted and Andromeda Tonks along with little Teddy Lupin.

To my surprise, it's George who walks in from around the door, closing it softly behind him. I watch him closely from the edge of his old bed as he slowly looks around the room, taking in each small detail of the side that Fred once occupied. He looks completely knackered; his hair is a mess and he's in a pair of pajama bottoms without a top, which I can't help gazing at.

"You okay?" I ask him softly.

He nods and turns his attention back to me, taking a seat beside me on the bed. I can feel the blush rise to my cheeks as his gaze travels down my pajama-clad form and when his eyes reach my own, I smile at the slight pink tinge on his own cheeks.

"I just wanted to thank you," he says slowly. "For everything."

I smile at him and shake my head. "There's no reason to thank me," I reply.

George doesn't respond and we continue to hold each other's gaze

And then our lips are crashed together. I'm not even sure who started the kiss. All I am aware of is the fact that when George's tongue makes contact with my bottom lip, I immediately open my mouth to allow him entrance and he's somehow already managed to maneuver me to a laying position on the bed.

Our kissing is more intense than anything I have ever experienced before. With Victor, it was always gentle and innocent. Ron never had any lead up and I never found myself wanting to go any further with him. But George-

He positions himself so he's above me, his right knee spreading my legs apart as he slowly lies on top of me, hesitating slightly when his more than apparent erection makes contact with my inner thigh. I breathe in deeply, not being used to the pace in which we're going, and never having gone any farther than kissing. When his hand comes to my waist and slowly travels up my front under my shirt, my rationality kicks in and I pull away from him.

"Sorry," he says quickly, rolling off me and laying beside me on his back, his hands in his hair.

I can feel the blush rise to my cheeks as I sit up and quickly bury my face in my hands. I can feel the bed shift as George sits as well.

"I didn't-" he starts, and cuts himself off. "I wasn't…"

I remove my hands and shake my head at him. "It's not you," I reply awkwardly. "I mean, you were…wow," I state, blushing at his raised eyebrow. "I've just…I never…"

"Oh," George states in sudden understanding. "I didn't think…I mean Krum and Ron…I just assumed you had gone at least-"

He stops talking as I throw myself back on the bed, covering my face with the pillow.

"Hey," he says in a comforting manner, trying to pull the pillow away from me. I hold on tightly and he begins to laugh. "Come on, Hermione," he states, still pulling on the pillow.

I let go and look up at his smiling face. "I don't see what's so funny," I state shortly.

He rolls his eyes at me. "I'm not laughing at you, just your reaction."

"You find it funny that I'm embarrassed?"

"Yes," George replies with yet another irritating grin. "You have no reason to be."

"I'm pretty sure that I do," I state, pushing myself up on my elbows.

He places the pillow behind my and lays down, propping himself up on his left elbow so he can look at me. "Well maybe we can change that," he states.

I look over at him and he's looking at me in complete seriousness. "What are you talking about?"

Biting his bottom lip, he runs his right hand through his hair. "I was thinking," he says slowly. "Would you maybe want to make this serious?"

"Like me be your girlfriend?"

"I understand if you don't want to," he says quickly. "I wouldn't really blame you. I mean, I'm a mess right now and we really only started this two days ago and Ron isn't too happy about us just kissing and-"

"George," I say with a smile, cutting him off. "You're ranting."

He closes his eyes and breathes in deeply. Before he opens his eyes again, I lean in towards him, placing a light kiss on his lips.

George immediately jumps back, not expecting me to have kissed him. "I'd love to," I say softly.

"You're not having me on?"

I shake my head at him and the smile returns to his face as I suppress a yawn.

"Well, my _girlfriend_," he states. "It seems that even the presence of such a beautiful example of man such as myself on this early Christmas morning isn't enough to keep you awake."

"How rude of me not to bask in your beauty," I reply heavy in sarcasm, laying back down on the pillow.

George smirks and reaches to the night stand that was his only a few years ago, picking up my wand and turning the lights out.

"What are you doing?" I ask him as I hear my wand being laid back down on the table.

I feel his arm come around my waist. "Sleeping," he says simply, laying down beside me.

Ignoring my usual thought process, I turn away from him and lean my back up against his bare chest. He pulls me closer to him where I fit nicely against his body. I close my eyes and soon fall asleep to George's steady breathing and heartbeat.

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I jump awake as the bedroom door slams open, colliding with the wall behind it, revealing a grinning Bill, Charlie, Harry and Ginny. Beside me, George is looking at them in confusion.

"Well what do we have here?" Charlie asks with a grin as both George and I slowly sit up.

"Two bloody pissed off and tired people," George replies with a glare towards his older brother.

Ginny raises an eyebrow at the two of us. "Is there a reason that you're not wearing a shirt?" She asks George.

"This is how I sleep," he says curtly. "Is there a reason that your four are bothering me and Hermione?"

"Is there a reason you two are in bed together?" Harry asks, joining in on the conversation.

"Because we're dating." I state slowly, utterly annoyed and being woken up in such a manner.

"What?" Ron asks through the sudden shocked silence of the room. He had just walked in, looking at George and I in surprise. He stares at me in anger. "You're _dating_ him?"

"Yeah," George answers with a smile before I can say anything. "She is."

Ron opens his mouth but no words come out. He quickly turns out of the room and we hear his door slam shut.

"Well that went rather well," I state looking down at my hands.

"Hey," George says softly, lifting my chin up with his hand. "He'll get over it," he states, placing a kiss on my forehead.

Instantly, loud retching noises are made by the doorway and George and I glare at where Charlie, Bill and Ginny are pretending to be throwing up. Harry is laughing at the three of them, standing a bit off to the side.

George grins and whips a pillow at Charlie's face making Bill and Ginny crack up laughing as well when Charlie picks the pillow up and jumps into the bed, beginning to attack George with it.

I quickly jump out of the bed and stand by Ginny, watching in amusement as George flips Charlie over and pins him down with his knees, striking a body builder pose with his arms before Charlie manages to get back up and they both tumble off the bed in a heap of bedding.

When Mr. and Mrs. Weasley come to the doorway, George and Charlie are laughing so hard that they're gasping for breath, making both their parents smile down at them.

"Come on you lot," Mr. Weasley states and Charlie and George attempt to catch their breath, "get dressed and downstairs to open your gifts."

"Where's Ron?" Mrs. Weasley asks, looking around the room.

"Sulking in his room," Ginny replies with a slight grin.

She looks at Ginny in confusion. "What for?"

"Well," George says from where he's still laying on his back on the floor before his bed, "apparently he doesn't agree with Hermione and I dating."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley look back and forth between George and me a few times before Mrs. Weasley answers. "He'll just have to get over it now, won't he then?"

I look at her dumbfounded and she gives me a small smile.

"Get dressed," she states before walking out, Mr. Weasley behind her.

Bill and Harry walk over to Charlie and George, each extending a hand to help the both of them up from the floor. As I make to go to Ginny's room where my bag of clothes is, George holds me back.

"What's up?" I ask him as he waits for the room to empty before putting his arms around my waist and pulling me close to him.

He leans forward and slowly presses his lips against my own. "Just making sure that last night wasn't a dream."

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	5. AUTHOR NOTE

Hi all-

So I've graduated college and I'm working full time and balancing my real-life needs, so I've been more or less absent from this site. I am incredibly grateful for all the support I've received since my haitus, and the messages urging me on to continue my work.

I can't promise any speed, but I'd like to finish a few stories I have on here.

So thank you, and hopefully you'll hear from me again soon.

-Tay.


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